In landscaping architecture, there sometimes exists a need, particularly around water, for the protection of banks and other land formations from erosion, or a need to maintain a bank at an angle steeper than its natural soil angle of repose. This is sometimes accomplished by the use of sheet piling.
In a typical sheet piling installation, individual, elongated steel sheets having channeled edges are driven into the soil, one after another, in interlocking fashion, to create a sheet piling wall. In this regard, a vibratory driver is sometimes used to drive the sheets into the ground. A typical vibratory driver includes a clamping jaw and a vibratory motor, both hydraulically driven by a separate, engine-driven hydraulic power unit. The driver is suspended from a line or cable from a lifting apparatus, such as from the bucket of an excavator on a back hoe, and positioned for the jaw to clamp the sheet piling sheet at its upper edge. Vibration from the driver causes the sheet to be driven into the ground.
One difficulty in driving sheet piling is related to a type of terrain that may be located adjacent to the area that is to receive the sheet piling. Where sheet piling is to be driven adjacent to a pond, for example, the local area can be soft, or uneven. On a golf course, for example, the area adjacent to the sheet piling, or access ways to that area, may be delicate and can be damaged by heavy equipment.
The present inventor has recognized that it would be desirable that an apparatus used for supporting a vibratory driver for sheet piling is able to operate on surfaces which can include soft, delicate or uneven soil. The present inventor has recognized that it would be desirable that such an apparatus is operable in use on a golf course to install sheet piling around ponds and other areas susceptible to having soft, delicate, and/or uneven ground surfaces. The present inventor has recognized that it would be desirable if a single operator could operate both the supporting apparatus and the vibratory driver from a single operator station.